A wrestling review by KCThe story so far: Mark Henry has been on a tear lately, injuring the Big Show at the Money in the Bank PPV and last week Kane. The story going into this episode is that new WWE COO (Chief Operating Officer) Triple H is going to confront Henry on his brutal ways.
Smackdown July 29, 2011 episode:
The show which was recorded in Philadelphia opens with Triple H coming to the ring wearing a nice business suit with a power red tie and imitating Vince McMahon’s strut. The crowd is on their feet while Triple H begins his speech. He mentions that the WWE Championship on Raw is a more complicated situation since there are now two champions. He said that he resigned Punk late Monday night and says there will be a decision next week about the future of the WWE title.
He begins addressing the World Heavyweight Championship situation on Smackdown and is immediately interrupted by Christian’s music. Josh Matthews says that some people call Christian a smarmy champion and some call him a smart champion. Cole agrees that Christian is smart.
Christian congratulates Triple H about his promotion to COO and says he is happy Triple H is in charge because Teddy Long has almost ruined the show by sucking up to Randy Orton and the fans. Christian offers to have a “close working relationship” with Triple H, which Triple H turns down. Triple H says that interrupting him is like a slap in the face and that unlike Vince, he will slap back. Triple H then makes a title match at SummerSlam and Christian will have to defend against Randy Orton in a No Holds Barred.
R Truth then interrupts and says that he is back on Smackdown (surprising). Truth makes fun of Triple H by saying that he’s not talking to himself tonight like he was on Raw. He then launches into his spiel about conspiracies and demands that the conspiracies be straightened out. Triple H calls Truth a man of action and makes a match with Truth to wrestle Randy Orton. Triple H then makes a match with Christian to wrestle John Morrison and that will be the lead off match on Smackdown.
When we return from break Triple H and Teddy Long are talking in the back when they run into Zack Ryder. Ryder tells Triple H he has an idea, and Triple H says he has to take a call. He then makes Ryder Teddy Long’s assistant to Teddy Long’s chagrin. Ryder is a big deal on the internet and WWE seems dead set on not letting him wrestle. We’ll see where this angle goes.
Morrison and Christian get ready to have their match while R Truth watches in the back. Truth has injured Morrison twice and they are undoubtedly building to a match at SummerSlam. Or they will just blow the whole thing off Monday, which would be more consistent with WWE’s booking strategies.
Christian starts off dominating Morrison and looks like the confident champion. Morrison hits a beautiful kick off the ropes for a two count. Christian throws Morrison outside the ring and misses a plancha. Morrison then hits a great spinning move over the top to the floor. They then go to commercial which really annoys me about both Raw and Smackdown. To me it makes the matches seem less important, but I suppose the logic is that people will want to see who wins and will sit through a commercial break. It’s annoying because on WWE’s DVD Wrestling’s Highest Flyers the Smackdown matches still have the edits for the commercials in them, when I feel they should have been restored to the full match.
When we return from the break, Christian is still dominating Morrison.Christian is working the neck and the announce team makes sure to point out that Morrison is returning from a neck injury. Morrison hits a hope spot and does a kip up, which totally takes away from all the neck injury talk. Morrison at one point hits the move that Sin Cara does from the top rope which makes me wonder what the future of Sin Cara will be. Christian hits the spear and gets a two count. Christian goes to the top and Morrison gives him a backdrop from the second rope. Morrison goes for Starship Pain, but Christian moves and Morrison (kind of) lands on his feet. Christian hits the Killswitch and gets the three. I’m happy that they gave Christian a majority of the match and he looked strong against Morrison. Morrison’s out is that he’s still got the injured neck. A Pretty good match that ends with Christian walking away kissing the belt.
Jindar Mahal and Great Khali are in a skybox watching the show while Cole congratulates them on flaunting their money.
When the show returns from break, my boy, Wade Barrett has the mic. Josh Matthews calls him savvy and eloquent. Barrett explains why he left England to become a WWE Superstar. It’s not to entertain the fans, but to make money. He says he’s lost track of that, but it’s all in focus because Daniel Bryan has been walking around with what should be his Money in the Bank briefcase. Barrett says “Greed is terribly underrated” and that there will be a return to basics. He says Bryan is in over his head and Bryan interrupts him. Bryan says that Heath Slater said the same things about him and that he made him tap out last week. Barrett calls Slater and Bryan a NXT Season One misfit. Bryan says its water under the bridge and Barrett has been on more PPV’s but Bryan won Money in the Bank and will main event Wrestlemania. Barrett punches him and stoops to get in his face. Bryan then locks on the Labelle Lock and Barrett taps out, even though it’s not a match. I hope that this leads to a feud between Barrett and Bryan and doesn’t just end here.
Ryder and Long are talking in the back when Mark Henry confronts them. Teddy tells Henry that nobody wants to wrestle him, and Ryder says he will find him an opponent. Ryder offers the potato and Long blows him off. Again, are they just trying to reinforce how uncool Ryder is? Why does there seem to be a constant effort to bury him?
We return to a video package featuring Justin Gabriel in his hometown of Cape Town, South Africa. A nice little package on Gabriel who I believe has a lot of potential to become a breakout WWE Superstar.
Natalya, Kaitlyn, and AJ are in the ring and Alicia Fox, Rosa Mendes and Tamina are introduced. It’s time for a short six ladies tag match. Cole says AJ may be attracted to Hornswoggle and I feel like puking. The match starts with Natalya taking heat and the moves look sloppy. I remember when women used to be able to wrestle. Natalya tags to AJ and she’s a real “house of fire” if that house of fire was soaked in cold water. The match breaks down with all six ladies brawling. Alicia Fox hits the scissor kick and pins AJ. Terrible match. Thankfully it was short.
They then go to a video package showing Mark Henry’s recent rampage starting with Big Show at Money in the Bank and ending with him messing up Kane last week on Smackdown. I’m really not too thrilled with Mark Henry, but at least they are giving him some kind of storyline and he has injured two of my least favorite wrestlers which is a plus. Hopefully next he will hurt Great Khali and then finally injure himself.
A sweaty Mark Henry comes to the ring while the announcers wonder who his opponent will be. The man probably sweats in his sleep. His opponent comes to the ring. A 185 pound guy from Philadelphia named Bobby Howard. The announcers act like it’s a joke and Booker T calls him malnourished. Howard is trembling and turns to return to the back but Ryder comes out and gives him a pep talk. There are chants of Bobby by the Philadelphia crowd. Henry gets in his face and throws him across the ring. Henry gives him the World’s Strongest Slam and picks him up for another one. Cole says he is sending a message to the locker room and to Triple H. He gives him a third WSS and finally pins him. After the match Henry pulls him in the corner and gets a steel chair. He is going to put Howard out like he did Big Show and Kane. He puts the chair around his ankle and is then interrupted by Teddy Long who gets in the ring and implores him to stop. Teddy says that he can’t let Henry compete anymore and the destruction has to stop. Sheamus then comes to the ring with a cocky look on his face. Is this the start of babyface Sheamus? Booker T says Sheamus is the man and is really stepping up. Sheamus grabs the mic and challenges Henry. Sheamus tells an Irish fairy tale and basically calls Henry a 450 pound bag of crap. The crowd starts chanting Sheamus (of course that might have been canned heat, hard telling on Smackdown.) Sheamus slaps Henry and Henry charges but Sheamus pulls the top rope down and Henry goes tumbling over. Henry throws the ring steps, and Sheamus holds him off with a chair. Henry walks away frustrated while Sheamus sits in the ring and smiles. Interesting that they are going all fan favorite with Sheamus, but being at the Money in the Bank PPV Sheamus got a good pop when he gave the Brogue Kick multiple times. At least this is an interesting twist to the angle with someone standing up to Henry.
They show highlights of the Uso’s beating the new Nexus two weeks ago on Superstars to earn a title shot. The Uso’s come out doing their little tribal dance. Nexus comes out to a new thing song and interestingly Mason Ryan is still in the Nexus titantron video. The match itself has very little crowd reaction and kind of like the Diva’s match it looks like they are walking through it. They point out that one of the Uso’s has a tattoo which is dumb because it eliminates the whole “Twin Magic” strategy that the Bella’s employ. The match ends with Otunga distracting the ref and McGillicutty hitting a nice neckbreaker for the pin. A pretty lousy match that makes me miss the Hart Foundation vs. The Rocker days.
Ryder suggests to Teddy Long that Ezekiel Jackson wrestle Cody Rhodes and Ted Dibiase in a handicap match. He said he talked to all involved and they were cool with the idea. Long reluctantly agrees.
They recap Mysterio pinning Miz to win the WWE Title on Raw only to lose it to Cena. This angle makes me feel bad for Rey. What a tease. They really put over how happy Rey was to win and how he was bringing the gold home to his family, but Triple H booked a match with Rey and Cena. This makes no sense to me, and I would much rather see Punk wrestle Rey with Cena on the outside looking in. After Cena wins, Punk comes to the ring to new music and a cocky swagger. Punk holds his belt up high and Cena looks inadequate holding his up not as high. Cole reinforces that the situation will be addressed on Monday night.
Matt Striker interviews Truth about his match with Orton. Truth says he feels good and is going to be “like a bunch of eagles swooping down on a snake.” Go Truth!
Ezekiel Jackson comes to the ring for the handicap match. Cody Rhodes is a guy who has become a lot more interesting since his facial reconstruction surgery. He and Dibiase come to the ring flanked by the helpers who hand out bags for the fans to wear on their heads. They continue the bit with Booker T being given a bag. Dibiase starts against Jackson. He and Rhodes double team Jackson, but Jackson battles back. Rhodes cuts out Jackson’s leg from behind. The announcers mention that Rhodes is Dibiase’s life coach and has really helped him the past few weeks. The heels double team Jackson with a few hope spots mixed in. Dibiase tags Rhodes and Jackson gives him the multiple body slams. He puts him in the torture rack and Dibiase kicks him in the stomach. Jackson charges Rhodes, but Rhodes moves and Jackson hits the ring post. Rhodes hits the Cross Rhodes to get the pin. Another sloppy match. Jackson isn’t good and Cody could be used better.
Jindar Mahal has a mic and begins speaking in his home language. He then gives Khali the mic and my brain glazes over. I really have no idea what’s going on while the crowd chants USA.
They show a package of Shawn Michaels against Razor Ramon in a ladder match from Summerslam 1995. It reminds me that yes indeed WWE used to have really awesome matches.
It’s finally time for the main event and Truth comes to the ring. This should be a good match. It should be the best on the show along with Christian and Morrison’s opening bout. Orton comes to the ring while the fans get on their feet. What’s the deal with all this Apex Predator stuff? Oh well. Truth jumps out of the ring and Orton stares him down before climbing the ropes to soak up the fan adoration. The bell rings and you can tell these two guys at least have ring presence. They start off hot with Orton hitting a couple shoulder tackles. Truth lures him into the corner and cuts him off with a kick. Orton regains the advantage with a clothesline following an up and over in the corner. Truth cuts him off again and throws Orton out of the ring. Truth goes out after him and they brawl on the floor. Truth puts Orton’s back into the ring and rolls him back in the ring. The fans chant R Truth Sucks. While Truth goes to get back in the ring Orton grabs him and they tease the DDT with Truth’s feet on the ropes. Truth grapevines Orton’s neck over the ropes and we start the heat.
Christian comes out to watch the match and we go to commercial (arrgh!)
We return from the break with Orton fighting back against Truth, but Truth cuts him off again. Truth grabs a rest hold while Christian inches closer to the ring. Orton battles back and Truth cuts him off with an elbow. I like that they are giving Truth so much offense, but that probably means Orton is winning. Truth goes to hit a double axe handle from the top and Orton hits him in the breadbasket. Orton begins “going to the place where he hears voices” and does his traditional hot comeback. Truth goes to escape the ring but Orton grabs him and gives him the DDT with Truth’s feet on the ropes. Orton drops and begins pounding the mat, but takes a second to check on Christian. Orton goes for the RKO but Truth escapes and cuts him off. Truth beats Orton on the outside with a bottle of water while Christian distracts the ref. Orton drinks the water and jumps on Truth. He gets a chair from the outside while Cole reminds the people about Orton’s “anger management issues.” Orton hits Truth with the chair giving Truth the win by DQ. The announcers remind us that there will be no DQ at Summerslam so that won’t be an issue when he rematches with Christian. Orton hits Truth with a monitor while Christian stands on the ramp with a nervous look on his face. Orton is bleeding from the mouth so I guess Truth tagged him at some point in the match. Orton gives Truth an RKO on the announce table and begins walking toward Christian. Orton then begins hearing voices and turns back to Truth with a sick smile on his face. The crowd is encouraging him to give another RKO to Truth on the table. It looks crappy because the table doesn’t break. Orton’s music starts playing and Orton is giggling like a school girl while Christian nervously embraces his belt.
Overall it was a solid episode that featured a couple of good solid matches. I like the twist the Orton/Christian feud has taken with the match being booked for Summerslam that would allow Orton to just go wild. Interested to see what Christian has planned to counter it. I wish Jindar Mahal and Great Khali would just go away. I hope they capitalize on a Barrett and Bryan feud perhaps with the Money in the Bank briefcase being on the line at some point. I think they could be doing more with Cody Rhodes and hopefully this interaction with Jackson will lead to Rhodes getting the intercontinental belt. The tag division and women’s division are jokes and it’s sad to see what’s happened to them. I enjoyed Sheamus coming out and getting in Henry’s face and look forward to seeing a babyface run. Christian vs. Morrison, Orton vs. Truth, and the Sheamus segment lift this episode up from a “Meh” to a “Liked it.” Hope to see more improvement in future weeks.
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